Perfect Timing
by SarcasticEnigma
Summary: COMPLETE! What might have happened had Lucy been alive and around during 'The Show Must Go On'. This is only for Carter's final scene. CARCY! R&R!


**_A/N: _**I own no one, but I would love it if I owned Luka or Carter (drools) Anyway, this is something that came to me after seeing _The Show Must Go On_. In this, Carter isn't leaving to be with Kem. Why? 'CAUSE I SAID SO! This will be in my 3rd _ER_ fic with some changes, so if you don't get it now: don't worry! Also, the song is _You and Me_. I don't own it because it belongs to Lifehouse.

_**Perfect Timing**_

_"What day is it? And in what month?  
This clock never seemed so alive  
I can't keep up and I can't back down  
I've been losing so much time..."_

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna puke again." Morris groaned as he lowered his head between his knees. Carter had just walked outside and saw the poor man. The scene looked all too familiar. He shook his head and walked passed the ill fated man, but stopped when a fleeting thought of Mark came to him.

"Hey..." He called, turning to face Morris who looked up at him. "You set the tone, Morris." He said calmly, yet full of confidence. Morris gawked at Carter, completely confused and just said "what?" Carter smiled widely and shook his head, chuckles emerging from his mouth. "Never mind." He turned around, leaving Morris to his sickness, and began to walk into the slight rainfall that blessed Chicago.

_"...'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to lose  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you..."_

"Hey, Carter!" He turned around outside to see a woman running at him, a smile on her face. "Ew, hey, Morris." She said avoiding his personal puddle as she carefully walked passed him. Her smile reappeared as she stopped in front of Carter. "Didn't think you'd get away without saying "good-bye" to me, did you?"

"No, Lucy, I just..." He was trying to find a nice thing to say but came up empty handed. "...I...forgot. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Not a big deal. Can't expect you to remember your first Med student after, how many years have you been here again?" She asked sarcastically, pointing at County behind her. "Sorry I didn't make it to Ike's. I had to talk a Manic Depressive woman out of flirting with Jerry."

"I forgive you then since you had your hands full." He laughed and they stood there for a few moments in respectful silence.

_"...All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right  
I'm tripping on words  
You've got my head spinning  
I don't know where to go from here..."  
_

Lucy couldn't believe that after all these years, after everything that had happened, Carter was leaving. He was going back to Africa, to the Congo, and wasn't even sure when he was coming back. The two of them had had their ups and down, that was normal for any couple. Carter had even proposed on two previous occasions, but Lucy always seemed to stumble over her words and the end result would be a definative "no."

"Um...I just wanted to say that I'll, uh..." _God, why can't I ever just tell him the truth when I want to? This never happened when I was his Med student or when we were dating._ "...I'll miss you, Carter, and that I...I, uh--"

"I know, Luce." He said confidently, no smile on his face. He just stared at her. "I'll miss you, too. But...if I don't go now then, I'll never go."

"Would that really be so bad?" She couldn't believe what she was saying, and neither could he. That was the confidence she knew she had. "I mean, why go? Why go and come back just to go again? Why not stay?"

"Because..." He sighed before speaking wistful and saracastic. "..This is the happiest place on earth." They smiled at each other, heart aching, before the awkward silence settled in again. "I got to go."

"Yeah. Go ahead. Go..." He nodded to her and turned on his heal, walking towards the El for his final ride. "...And never come back." She muttered, turning back towards County. Carter heard her say something and when he asked her what, she blew him off. "Nothing!" She threw over her shoulder.

_"...'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to prove  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you..."  
_

"Yeah, right! What did you say?" She didn't stop, trying desperately to avoid crying. "Ugh! Why do you always push people away?"

"What!" She asked, stunned at his words, finally turning to face him.

"You heard me! You push people away. You always have!" He wasn't exactly wrong. Lucy pushed him and County away after Sobriki. Even after she came back, she was distant from everyone. Then, when she finally stopped pushing people away, Mark died and she retreated. Dave moved away and she hadn't heard from him since. Finally, Carter proposed twice and she rejected him. _Okay, so the man has a point._

"Well, when I push you away, I hope there's a very short person behind you so you fall down and hurt your ass!" She countered, not ready to go down without a fight.

"Look, all I ever had were two thing: my job and our skrewed-up friendship!" He shouted, not even realizing that they were drawing strange glances from people passing by.

"Well, it looks like you've lost both because, when you left County, you ended our friendship!"

_"...There's something about you now  
I can't quite figure out  
Everything she does is beautiful  
Everything she does is right..."_

"You think I want this!" He couldn't believe her; this wasn't the Lucy he knew and loved. _What's wrong with her? Why is she acting this way?_

"I don't know what you want anymore, Carter! I don't know! And that scares me." She paused and quickly wiped her eyes as he stared at her, coming to some sort of revelation. "I thought...I thought you loved me; that you wanted to marry me, but now...now I'm not so sure."

"Lucy, you're the one who said they didn't want to get married--twice!" He reminded exasperated, not at all angry or bitter.

"I know! And the first time was true but, the second time..." She paused again, knowing she would regrest what she was about to say. "...The second time, I was lying." Carter stared at her, completely shocked. _She lied? Lucy lied?_

"You wanted to get married?" He asked, hopeful yet confused, but she shook her head.

"Want--present tense." She corrected.

_"...'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to lose  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you  
and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to prove  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you..."_

"You want to marry me?" He asked, still confused, and she nodded warily. "You want to marry?" He repeated more confident and she nodded again with a small smile, not sure what he was getting at. "Let's get married then!" He rushed to her, pulling her into a soft kiss, but Lucy pulled away with a small smile. This was all she ever wanted, but it wouldn't work.

"Wait a minute! Not that I'm not happy, but you have a plane to catch. Remember?" She said, bringing him back to reality.

"You're right." He thought for a minute before the lightbulb went off in his head. "I got it. I'll go now, you leave County and come to the Congo and we'll get married there!"

"In the Congo?" She asked, a little less then thrilled.

"Why not?" He asked with a goofy grin, and she just smiled. "So? How about it?" Lucy looked around her, back at County mostly, and saw that Morris had gone inside. She looked around the city, her only real home for the past seven years.

Lucy looked back at Carter after a minute and smiled, nodding with excitement. He cheered happily and picked her up off her feet and swung her around like he did before (will be in the third installment). They laughed joyously and kissed more passionately then they'd ever done before. This was it. _This _was it. Carter and Lucy were finally together--no pain, no secrets, no shame and no regrets. They were finally going to get married; they were finally happy and at peace for the first time in a long time.

_"...What day is it?  
And in what month?  
This clock never seemed so alive..."_


End file.
